Winter Light Show, 8th and 9th June 2004

Previous Page

It all started with a phone call at 7:30 in the evening from a mate telling me he saw lightning out over the ocean. The day had been a warm one indeed, quite out of character for this time of year. But then it has been anything but a normal year and with essentially no storms over the summer period to be presented this at the beginning of winter is a gift indeed.
A great radar image. I spent too much time outside to save a loop unfortuneately. But you get the idea!

Some heavy rain hit with the line of storms. In fact it is the heaviest rain we have had for over 2 months giving us 14.75mm to 9:00am which is the largest 24 hour fall since the 29th march!! There may have been some small hail with the initial burst, but it is impossible to verify. The sound on the roof suggested hail though. Westerlies followed the next day with some classic "coldies" coming in off the ocean giving some more quite heavy showers to those in the way. We just so happened to be in the way for one!

When I arrived on the hilltop at around 7:30 on the evening of the 8th a large chunk of the western horizon was lighting up. Over the next 6 hours and 2 sets of cam batteries the line of storms worked closer and gave me some great captures. The wind was blowing so hard I had to anchor the tripod and myself to the ground, but even so a few are quite blurry. Click on any thumbnail to view a larger image.